Existence
by Shini02
Summary: SP/KH. Oneshot. “Maybe it's all real - Donald Duck and Goofy and this Sora kid.”


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, and blame NekoYoukai04 for this cracktastic ficlet.

* * *

**Existence**

He stood out, more so than even Goofy and Donald – Sora couldn't help but notice him and the way he seemed more than just a little lost. The kid was a wreck, fidgeting and fussing with his clothes as he tried to approach the passersby and ask for assistance, but his voice was small and easily drown out by the commotion of the small town. It was the least Sora could do to see if he could do anything for the lost stranger.

"Excuse me?" Sora said, clearing his throat to gain the newcomer's attention. The blond jumped and whirled around, shaking hands held tight together in front of him, blue eyes wide and darting back and forth between the trio a few times until he stared at Sora. The Keyblade wielder rubbed the back of his neck.

"Are you lost?"

"I... I think so, fellas," the blond said quickly, looking to the ground now. He was still fidgeting in place, now and then looking around as though expecting something or someone to suddenly appear before him.

Goofy stepped closer, head cocked to the side. "Are ya ok, kiddo?"

The kid nodded, then shook his head, then let loose a long, drawn out whine as he flailed his arms. He looked close to tears suddenly. Sora and Donald took a step back, Donald pulling Goofy by a belt loop.

"What's your problem?" Donald snapped, eyes wide.

"I don't wanna be the key!"

The trio exchanged puzzled glances. "The Key?" Sora inquired.

"The Key," the stranger repeated, whining again.

"The only key 'round here is Sora's Keyblade," Goofy said, smiling faintly, hoping that maybe that would make the little one feel better.

Taking a breath, the blond composed himself as much as he could before asking, "fellas, is... is this Imagination Land?"

"Imagination – ?" Donald shook his head and glowered, becoming frustrated at this point. "No! This is Twilight Town!"

The kid looked relieved. Or maybe he was about to finally break down into tears, Sora couldn't really tell from the way his eyes widened and his lips trembled.

"Y'mean, Aslan's not gonna show up an' tell me I gotta save everybody again?"

"Who's Aslan?" Goofy questioned, sliding his fingers under his hat and scratching at his head in confusion.

That was all the boy seemed to need to hear to make him throw his arms up in the air and whoop happily, spinning around a few times while chanting "not the Key, not the Key – I'm not the Key!"

"D'ya think maybe he hit his head or somethin'?" Goofy whispered between his two friends.

"One too many times," Donald muttered.

Sora chuckled, smiling faintly as he walked toward the ecstatic newcomer. He placed his hands onto the other boy's shoulders and slowly spun him around. "We're going to get ice cream. Wanna come?"

* * *

Sitting on the steps of the train station, eating sea-salt ice cream, the kid – Butters, was his name – told the trio of his time in Imagination Land, earning himself bemused and curious stares from the duck, dog and Keyblade wielder.

"Terrorists wanted to destroy the imagination?" Sora asked, totally dumbstruck by the idea that, somehow, someone had managed to get into the imagination and tried to let loose all of the evils that lurked in the back of the mind.

Butters nodded, sucking on the corner of his ice cream for a moment. "That's right."

"And you stopped it all because you were the Key? You had power over all of the imagination?"

Another nod.

"That's amazing," Sora murmured. Donald cocked an eyebrow and leaned forward to look at his young friend, now leaning back against the steps and looking toward the sky.

"It was scary," Butters frowned.

"I bet," Sora murmured, still trying to wrap his mind around the whole thing.

"This place reminds me of Imagination Land," Butters said quietly. "It feels magical."

Sora chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it does feel that way when you first come to a new world."

Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement.

Finished with his ice cream, Butters tossed the stick into a nearby waste basket and stood, brushing off the back of his jeans. "I guess I should be goin' home – 'cept I dunno how t'get there."

"We'll take ya!" Goofy beamed, standing and throwing out his stick as well.

"We will not!" Donald intercepted, glaring. "We don't have time! We have a job to do, remember?"

"What's one more pit stop?" Sora smirked, then forcibly dragged Donald back to the Gummi ship, ignoring the swears and quacks of protest all the while. Goofy took the liberty of explaining inter-world travel to the blond as they walked, wincing every time he said something that made the boy gasp or wince. Hopefully, they would be able to find a safe, clean route from here to South Park.

* * *

Butters waved vigorously to the departing ship, smiling brightly before he had to shield his eyes when the ship warped back to Twilight Town, the flash almost blinding.

"Butters, what the hell are you doing?"

He spun around on his heel to face Kyle, Stan, Cartman and Kenny, all of whom were staring at him more than a little confused. Kyle had his arms crossed over his chest, one eyebrow raised as he stared at the blond boy.

"Fellas! Fellas, boy, have I got a story for you!" Butters exclaimed, jogging to the group of friends.

Halfway through his tale of otherworldly travel, Butters was interrupted by Cartman's laughter. "You're kiddin', right?"

Butters shook his head, brow furrowing. "I'm not!"

"You expect us to believe you went to some other world and met Donald Duck and Goofy and some kid named Sora?" Cartman said, then laughed again.

Kyle silenced him with a slap to the back of his head. "Shut the fuck up, fatass!"

Butters was frowning now. "Y-you guys believe me, right?"

Stan and Kyle exchanged glances with one another and Kenny; Kenny shrugged. Kyle sighed and smiled faintly. "I guess so. No different than Imagination Land, right?"

Butters pursed his lips together before speaking. "Y'know, thinkin' 'bout it now... I think it was a part of it. 'Cause Sora talked about Santa Clause an' Cinderella an' Tron an' – an' – "

"We get it, Butters," Stan said, holding up a hand, then pinching the bridge of his nose. Anything to keep the other boy from babbling.

"– an' before I left, Sora said something that really got me thinkin'," Butters continued after a moment, when he was sure the others weren't really annoyed with him yet. "He said, _we share the same sky_."

Stan cocked an eyebrow. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I think," Butters replied, smiling as he recalled his new friends, "it means we're all connected."

"Yeah, right," Cartman laughed again. And again, Kyle's hand met with the back of Cartman's head to shut him up.

They walked Butters home and walking away from the front stoop, Kyle asked, "I wonder..."

"No, Kyle," Cartman glowered. "Don't do it."

"But I mean, it'd make sense. I said that imaginary things have an impact on our lives, but what if that impact is so strong because their world somehow influences ours?"

"He did it," Cartman groaned and slapped his forehead.

"What're you getting at?" Stan inquired.

"Maybe," Kyle murmured, "there's no such thing as the imagination to begin with. Maybe it's all real – Donald Duck and Goofy, and this Sora kid – and maybe Imagination Land was just some sort of twist amalgamation of all the worlds colliding at once, in some alternate plain of existence."

Cartman broke out into laughter again, and Kyle was forced to knock him to the ground and land a few punches in his friend's chubby face. Stan and Kenny looked at one another, shrugging and chuckling.

The conversation was forgotten entirely mere seconds later, and worlds away Sora's heart twisted and churned inside his chest as he thought of Butters and the whole imaginary concept. He wasn't quite sure why, but the idea of being imaginary – of being _nothing_ – made him almost angry, because he wasn't nothing – he was real.

_They_ existed.

-End


End file.
